User blog:El Alamein/The Merry Men vs. the Knights of the Round Table
It's the best battle the Middle Ages has never seen! The Merry Men, devious tricksters clad in green who fought agaunst tyranny and were led by the clever Robin of Locksley, and the Knights of the Round Table, valiant armor-clad men who went on quests of fortune and glory and were led by the brave King Arthur! It's a battle between men of honor and those who have no hesitation to scrap theirs to win a fight! The Merry Men The Merry Men in Tights were a band of outlaws and other rejects of society that rallied under the cause of Robin of Locksley, better known as Robin Hood. Hiding in the Sherwood Forest, near Nottingham, they ambush the rich traveling nearby (careful to leave them unharmed) and take their money to give to the poor. Of course, a certain amount of funds is kept for the Merry Men's own survival, and as such they are relatively well-armed and decently trained. This doesn't mean that the Merry Men won't kill to survive, though; they are viciously hunted by the Sheriff of Nottingham and they will attack and kill any guards he sends to weed them out. The Merry Men dive into battle with: #The English Longbow and the Shortbow #'The Quarterstaff' #'The Shortsword and Dagger' #'The Longsword' #'The Buckler and Hardened Leather body armor' The Knights of the Round Table The Knights of the Round Table are nearly polar opposites of the Merry Men - they are nobility and very, very rich - the type of people the Merry Men would love to pick a fight with. They are led by King Arthur but other members are known for their own acts of heroism (Sir Lancelot, Sir Bedevere, Sir Galahad and Brave Sir Robin come to mind). They are known by their name for the table they would sit at, symbolizing that no one would sit at the head of the table, and therefore that no one could order the others what to do. The Knights of the Round Table fight witches and dragons and the like, and have been trained from a young age. The Knights of the Round Table stride into combat armed with: #'The Crossbow' #'The Pike' #'The Spiked Mace and Combat Knife #'The Broadsword (and in King Arthur's case, Excalibur)' #'The Round Shield and Chainmail body armor' X-Factors: Training: Merry Men: 78 / Knights of the Round Table: 87 The Merry Men are mostly common outlaws who have experience committing acts of violence but against a civilian body, and while they are experienced, formal training is lacking and mostly consists of sparring and target practice in the forest. The Knights of the Round Table have been trained since a very young age and have been trained superbly in nearly all aspects of combat. They were prepared since they first stepped onto the field of battle, while the Merry Men had to gain experience first. Stealth: Merry Men: 89 / Knights of the Round Table: 81 The Knights of the Round Table are skilled in all aspects of combat and can set up an ambush if need be, but the Merry Men operate around a guerrilla warfare system of fighting. They can quickly disappear in the grass and up the trees and pop up behind the enemy who was pursuing them. The deeper you follow the Merry Men and the longer you don't see them, the greater the chance that you're walking into their trap. Stealth is the Merry Men's area of expertise, while the Knights of the Round Table are a little less skilled in that area. Experience: Merry Men: 84 / Knights of the Round Table: 86 This was very close but the Knights of the Round Table have fought supernatural enemies and have gone on army-on-army battles of conquest. The Merry Men are always fighting for survival but they're adapted comfortably to fending off small numbers of city guards in their own turf. The Knights have fought on all corners of the globe against enemies of different sizes, races, and skill sets. Even so, it is a very, very close call. Precision: Merry Men: 90 / Knights of the Round Table: 79 When it comes to skill with the bow and landing accurate, quick hits up close with light weapons, the Merry Men have a huge advantage. Their skill with the bow is one of the biggest reasons they've made it untouched so long; they can end the fight before it starts with a simple accurate volley of fire. Meanwhile, up close they can target the neck or chest, or the limbs for incapacitating shots, with a quick ferocious ease. The Knights of the Round Table are trained with the crossbow but that's not a weapon they rely on and it's possible that in the heat of an ambush that they'd likely walk into it would be very hard to hit the Merry Men with the bulkier ranged weapon. Brutality/Killer Instinct: Merry Men: 78 / Knights of the Round Table: 87 The Knights of the Round Table butcher every enemy whether it be a one-on-one fight or a grand army battle, and move on to the next foe with the same brutal determination. The Merry Men will kill and do so on a regular basis, but civilian targets passing through are just hostages or victims of a robbery. They operate on an agenda that forces them to kill with discrimination, while the Knights can usually ignore this and ask questions later. Battle: If seven Merry Men led by Robin Hood came against seven Knights of the Round Table led by King Arthur in an ambush scenario in the Sherwood Forest, who would win? The Knights have a full-body chainmail armor except for their head, which has no helmet. Their hands are also exposed. The Merry Men have the element of surprise and have their shields and leather armor, but are less protected against the Knight's heavier weapons. Who will win? Leave comments below. A full vote, backed with edges and/or solid reasons in paragraph form can be considered as one full vote. Anything less, even a "copies vote", will not be counted for anything, not even a half vote. So make sure you just put some effort into the vote, and I'll put some effort into the battle. Sound fair? Merry Men: Knights of the Round Table: King Arthur and six other Knights of the Round Table, including Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad, and Sir Bedevere, are riding through Sherwood Forest on their way to Nottingham on a goodwill visit and to try and set up a plan to rid the town of the bandits raiding them and draining their economy. Arthur knows of a band of robbers known as the Merry Men but he and his men are armed and armored and he feels confident that they can ride through and escape. It is midmorning by the time they ride down the trail close to the Merry Men's camp. Robin of Locksley, better known as Robin Hood, has several men waiting in the treetops for any people passing through - if they qualify as "rich", he'll order the attack. He spots the Knights riding down the trail, decides them to be fair targets, and signals one of the Merry Men to go down to try a peaceful robbery. He and the rest of the men string their bows. "Good morning," said the robber pleasantly. He held a longsword and had a buckler strapped on the other. "If you'd pay the... toll, to pass through here, we'd appreciate it, and there won't be any trouble." He smiled cheerily. Arthur pushed his horse forward, the animal whinnying nervously. "And who are you, so brave as to try and rob us by yourself? We are armed, we have weapons. You are a fool. Stand aside and we'll let you live." "Right, then, Robin!" the Merry Man called up. He plunged his sword into Arthur's horse and the beast screamed before falling to the side awkwardly. Arthur fell and stumbled to get up. The Merry Man lunged at Arthur with his sword but a Knight carrying a crossbow fired it from the horse, and the wooden bolt flew straight into the robber's chest. The Merry Men let loose a volley of arrows on the confused knights and one of them, carrying a mace, took an arrow to the gut. He doubled over just in time to get another one to the back of the head. He fell forward over the mane of his horse and tumbled off, dead. The Merry Men leaped out of the treetops and charged at the rallying knights below. Sir Lancelot leaped off of his horse and rammed a Merry Man with his round shield. The robber stumbled backward and waved his arms trying to recover but Lancelot stabbed the man clean through the midsection with his longsword. The bandit cried out in agony and slumped down on the blade before spitting blood all over the forest floor and dying. Lancelot raised his sword out of the body and turned to engage another robber. Robin Hood charged at a knight who raised his heavy mace on top of a horse, and he slit the horse across the neck. The horse didn't die right away and instead panicked, bleeding, and threw the knight from his horse. Robin watched as Little John appeared with a quarterstaff and bludgeoned the man's head in with the heavy wooden polearm, knocking his brains out. Sir Galahad tried to backstab Little John in the middle of his gruesome work, but Robin throws his dagger through the air and hits the knight in the forehead. Sir Galahad reaches up to clutch at the handle sticking out of his forehead but staggers and drops. Arthur runs at a Merry Man, who raises his quarterstaff and swings wildly, missing. Before he can recover, Excalibur is plunged downward into his neck. He stumbles upon Robin Hood, who draws his buckler, and the two begin a duel. Sir Lancelot approaches Little John, and the massive man swings his staff, breaking the knight's arm. However Bedevere with his pike stabs Little John in the thigh. Angrily, the bandit breaks the weapon on the handle and rips the blade out. He puts a foot on Lancelot's chest and kicks him away, but is hit again in the arm. Finally a spiked mace finds its way into the back of his neck and Little John falls facedown, bleeding into the dirt. Robin sees this and is infuriated, so he kicks Arthur away and stuns the king before he charges Bedevere, stabbing him in the stomach and pulling the knife up and out of his body. Lancelot too is slashed across the face in Robin's fury. Robin turns to see one of his bandits get decapitated and he and his last remaining man charge Arthur and his last knight. Both of the subordinates run each other through and sink to the dirt. Arthur swings with Excalibur and Robin cuts his wrist with a downward thrust. The king stumbles back in pain and Robin throws the combat knife, injuring the king further, in the stomach. He picks up his buckler and swings it at the disoriented Arthur and, getting in close, drives his shortsword into Arthur's neck. Blood bubbles out of Arthur's nose, and he drops Excalibur, never breaking eye contact with Robin until the light fades from his eyes. Robin drops the body and looks down, shaking his head. "You bloody bastard, you should have given us the money." WINNER: MERRY MEN Expert's Opinion In the battle between the two medieval myths, Arthur's knights had an advantage with training, arms and armor but the Merry Men's greater experience with armed soldiers and his ambush scenarios meant he often ended the battle before it started. His spirited men were tricky to beat in battle and that's what carried the day for Robin of Locksley and his Merry Men. Category:Blog posts